Update on "Who's fooling Who?"

Together (an interpretation of a peaceful moment) and Little Cat Girl

In my previous post I wrote about the show "Who's fooling who?" curated by Jill Slaughter.

I was a little worried - stage fright if you want - if my work was up to par. Jill was selected the curator of the year 2014 by the New Miami Times and I know she pushes the artist with each of her shows.

We almost had a misunderstanding because I thought she meant that I was one of the artists in the main gallery with a part of a wall or one wall at best, but she choose me to be the artist with 3 walls in the main Gallery in Studio 18.  

Narrative by Jill Slaughter

Little Cat Girl (2015) - Little Captain America (2014) - Little Batman (2015)

Little Cat Girl 2015
24" x 20"
Acrylics on Boxed Wood

Now back in the studio and working on new pieces... for a new show.

Artist Profile - in Soul of Miami.

Sometimes life can take a strange turn, surprises come on your path and sometimes they are great. Just like the other day when I was asked if  "they" could do a profile on me. Now I do know the people of the Soul of Miami and I love what they are doing, so I didn't think twice and said yes!!

and this is the result of me agreeing:

http://www.soulofmiami.org/2013/07/29/local-artist-profiles-monique-lassooij-2/

And if you could see my smile now... I think I will keep it for a while.

I was also busy working on some new additions to the series "Proprietary Innocence" and here are some of my new paintings :

 Little Mona

11" x 14"

Acrylics and Resin on Italian Gesso Panel

Little Jimi

11" x 14"

Acrylics and Resin on Italian Gesso Panel

Little Frida

8" x 10"

Acrylics and Resin on Italian Gesso Panel

And I just started to paint Little Janis Joplin  and sketched Little Kurt Cobain... yes, more to come...

ITTY BITTY KITTY SHOW

Last night ( February 18, 2013) was the official opening of the online cat-related art show ITTY BITTY KITTY SHOW, featuring more than 50 works by 23 painters, illustrators, photographers and sculptors.

Itty Bitty Kitty Show curators Lil Red Buttons and PBJ

This show is put together by 2 Feline curators aka Lil Red Buttons and PBJ. They were assisted by Colleen Dougher who is the author of Arterpillar: a blog about South Florida art and the people who create it.

Click HERE and enjoy the show...

Inspired by RED

A few weeks ago I received a phone call with the question "You do have some pieces in red, don't you?" I looked around my work space... while pretty much being covered in red paint as I just had finished my piece with the Dachshund. 

Long story short, after some pictures back and forth, and pieces in other shows, I decided to create a new piece - inspired by Red - for this exposition and 2 days ago I finished a cat close-up on 36" x 36" (90 x 90 cm). And today I took it over to the Gallery together with other pieces in red.

This Saturday the openings reception will take place at Mano Fine Art Project Space in the heart of Bird Road Art District in Miami.

Art Zoo

Saturday December 3, 2011 I will be showing (and who knows selling) my two Zebra paintings at the Fundraiser Event "Art Zoo". This event is to raise money for PAWS 4 YOU Rescue.  

This is a 501(c)3 non-profit, volunteer, donor-subsidized animal rescue organization based in Miami, Florida.  Their top priority is to save animals from euthanasia at Miami-Dade Animal Services. On average 100 animals are destroyed every day at this county shelter!

Rescued animals vary from being sick, injured, homeless and surrendered to simply lost. PAWS 4 YOU Rescue give these animals a safe environment, professional medical care, training, support, hope and lots of love. The animals are sterilized, vaccinated and ID micro-chipped to prevent future loss. Some require major surgery from a specialist to repair broken limbs while others may need additional rehabilitation time and specific medical care - ranging from respiratory illnesses and skin infections to cherry eyes and heartworm treatments.

50% of the proceeds of the sold paintings will go to the fundraiser and they will share that with PAWS 4 YOU Rescue.

Darkness in Pompano Beach

Last night I received the confirmation that my 3 entries are juried into the group show "Darkness" at the Rossetti Fine Art Gallery in Pompano Beach. 

Pretty Pretty Flower

Artists were encouraged to enter works with dark themes and imagery. In other words for the artists to tap into their darker side. I chose to stay with one of my favorite subjects - children - and painted 3 fictional portraits (12" x 12"), using ink, charcoal and 4 colours of Acrylics (White, Red, Grey and Payne's Grey). I did not feel that full colour would do justice to the subjects and chose to stick with a limited palette.

I was aiming for a slightly subtle level of darkness and I was surprised that it was actually hard to restrain myself from going into a"SAW" kind of blood filled darkness, while setting up the portraits.

I am really pleased with the result and of course that I am juried in. The exposition will be open for public October 24th and the opening reception will take place on Thursday 27th from 8 pm - 10 pm at Rossetti Fine Art Gallery in Pompano Beach.

Life in Green

Life in Green

Acrylics & Silver Leaf

6" x 18"

Life is Art

"Life is Art"

6 x 18 inches

Acrylics and Gold Leaf

2011

UPDATE: Now in Private Collection

What is on my easel...

I have been working on this painting of this little girl (36" x 24") in acrylics for the last weeks. On the wall behind her the text of the first article of the Bill of Rights is written. It is fading and chipped off partly. The girl is staring at me - the artist - or at all of us, wondering....

Word and Symbols July 3 - August 10, 2010

The Windish-Hunt Gallery in Coconut Grove, FL had yet another great idea for a show. The subject is "Words & Symbols". It is the kind of subject that inspires a lot of artists, even if we normally do not use words or symbols (-ism) in our work.

I entered two paintings for this show; both are 24"x24" and in acrylics. Normally I work with oil paint, but I also like to work with acrylics. I choose a different style, more colors and more freely and I had a lot of fun in doing so.

The first one is "Change your words and you will change your world" The text starts on the left side of the canvas and finishes on the front. Words are powerful as words can kill, hurt, uplift and actually change your life.

The second is almost the opposite of the first as it refers to silence.

"The title is: "Listen to the colorful words of my silence". This one is inspired by a conversation I had with a close friend about communication within a relationship, or maybe more the lack of it. But the lack of words does not mean that somebody is not communicating. Silence can hold a lot of words and meaning in both a positive or a negative way.
I put the text on the front but in a small font to express the silence.

Both the use of words or silence can be powerful means of expressing yourself.

5 MINUTES OF FAME

On April 14 I will be presenting my work at 5 MINUTES OF FAME at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in North Miami.

This is a series that is part of MOCA by Moonlight programming, allows local artists to explain how and why they create their art.

Although I am nervous (this is a complete understatement), I am also very excited about this opportunity.

Nudes

Getting Ready (12" x 12" oil on canvas)

I love the human body. I love how the light creates this beautiful effects on the skin and more so to capture that in my paintings.
By the way, each body is so unique and especially when you look at the skin tones. For me it is really fun to work with that.

Not only do I paint the female nudes but also the male. Now I know that many consider the male body not as beautiful (to paint) as the female. Perhaps the female nude is more accepted nowadays, but I find that the male nude is equally as beautiful as the female body.

Future (12" x 12" oil on canvas)

And even though the female body is celebrated for its round shapes, I find that the male body has many of the same beauty.

If you are interested to see more of my nudes, please click here.

Fresh from the Fridge (2009)

When I knew I would have a solo at the Focaccia Rustica in Coconut Grove, I also realised that this would not be the place to hang nudes. It is after all a family restaurant. And this implied that I had to come up with a new body of work. To be honest, I went blank at first. For days I stared at two empty canvases and all that came to mind were nudes.

One afternoon my partner asked me why I didn't start painting and I replied: "Paint what? I have no other subject on my mind than nudes."

He suggested to go out and look around the house, to see if anything would inspire me. But I am not a plein air artist - ok, I never tried it and the large amount of hungry, bloodsucking mosquitoes outside doesn't make it very inviting for me to try a landscape out there.


Then he said to me: "Why don't you look in the kitchen, maybe there is something in there that will give you ideas."

And so I did, not that I am normally so obedient, but I was blank and he tried to help me. I opened the fridge... nothing yet, no celestial flash of inspiration. Then I opened the vegetable drawer in the fridge and I saw a variety of fruits and vegetables, each with their own colours and shapes... and there it was... my source of inspiration: Fresh from the Fridge.

To see all the paintings from this series, please click here.